Rubber or plastic feeder-cutter

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for cutting strips or rope-like lengths of material, especially rubber, or rubber-like plastic material, or plastic having a rubber like consistency, into discrete, shorter lengths for subsequent working.

Umted States Patent 1151 3,656,382 Cyphers [45] Apr. 18, 1972 [54]RUBBER 0R PLASTIC FEEDER- [56] References Cited I UNITED STATES PATENTS[72] Invent Charm Cyphm Ohm 1,909,029 5/1933 Walter.... ..83/672 x [73]Assignee: Sund-Borg Machines Corporation, Tre- 2,468,613 4/1949Bjorklund ..l46/184 mom, OhlO 3,102,694 9/1963 Frenkel 241/276 X Filed:g 28 1970 3,164,862 l/l965 ZleS ..83/355 X [21] Appl. No.: 67,721Primary Examiner-Frank T. Yost I Attorney-Roy E. Raney, Linx J. Raney,Henry Collins, 52 U.S. c1 ..83/150, 83/161, 83/355, Dav'd Buage andwatts f 83/408, 83/430, 83/519, 83/566, 83/672, 8833//697036, 7 ABSTRACT[51] Int. Cl ..B26d 9/00 A t s for utting strips or rope-like lengths ofmaterial, Field ofsfial'ch especially rubber, or rubber-like plasticmaterial, or plastic having a rubber like consistency, into discrete,shorter lengths for subsequent working.

PATENTEBAPR 18 972 SHEET 1 OF 2 yphers KW u O T MC W a h C A TTORNEVPATENTEDAPR 18 m2 SHEET 20F 2 INVENTOR Charles A. Cyphers ATTORNEYRUBBERQOR PLASTIC FEEDER-CUTTER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Apparatus isknown for cutting discrete lengths of material from longer lengths.Generally such devices are of the reciprocating guillotine type in whicha vertically moving blade severs lengths of material, or of the typedescribed in the U. S. Pat..to Caste,.No. 2,739,647, in which a rotatingmember with spaced cutting'blades severs discrete lengths of materialfrom that whichis fed to a cutting station. In each type, means, such asopposed rolls, are used to feed the material to the cutting or severinglocation. Generally such prior art devices do not operate satisfactorilywith gummy material, are rather noisy, and require frequent maintenance.

Another known device feedsa strip or rope into the void of an extruderscrew which propels the material into the screw tube or barrel. Thisrequires considerable power because the strip is sheared between thescrew flights and the inner wall of the barrel.

THE INVENTION According to this invention, there isprovided apparatusfor cutting strips or rope-like lengths of material, especially plasticmaterial, into discrete lengths, the apparatus comprising an elongatedhousing having a ,bore therethrough with a rotating auger therein Theauger closes one end of the bore;

the open end of the bore is for the discharge of the cut or severallengths of material. The auger has a cutting portion and a conveyingportion, the portions having different screw pitches. The cuttingportion is positioned adjacent a feed opening, the feed opening and wallof the bore defining a cutting edge against which the cutting portion ofthe auger forces the material, from which .the discrete lengths aresevered. The cut or severed lengths drop into the bore and are conveyedtherefrom-by the auger.

To feed material to the feed opening, a pair of cooperating, knurledfeedrolls is used. Circular knives may be incorporated or associatedwith the rolls to sever the strip material into rope-like sections. Theknives, if used, overlap one another, so as to be self-sharpening, butdo not ride on or contact the adjacent cooperating feed roll.

This arrangement permits the cutting of rather gummy plastics withoutdifficulty.

THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a top plan view with parts broken away to showdetails of one embodiment of the invention in which a pair of feed rollsfeeds strip material to be severed into discrete lengths;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the structure of FIG. 1 with partsbroken away to show details;

FIG. 3 is an outlet end view of the structure illustrated in FIGS. 1 and2;

FIG. 4 is a partial top plan view showing another embodiment of theinvention wherein circular knive blades cut the strip material intorope-like lengths;

FIG. 5 is a partial sectional view taken on line 5-5 of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a partial sectional view of another embodiment of the augerand housing of FIG. 1 wherein the outlet is diminished in size and ascrew continues for carrying the material to a working station.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Looking at FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 there is illustrated anapparatus I The auger 14 hasa cylindrical portion 26 and an axiallyextending auger portion generally identified as 28. The auger portion issubdividedinto a cutting portion 30 and a conveying portion 32. ThePrime difference between the cutting and conveying portions of the augeris the difference in angle and pitch of the flights as can be easilyobserved, especially from FIG. 2. The bore 12 is open at its end 34 forthe dischargeof material.

A secondary housing 36 is connected to thehousing l0 and contains a pairof opposed, preferably knurled, feed rolls 38, 40. The housing 10 iscut, as at 42, 44 to accommodate the rolls, one of which, the roll 38,is driven by a driving means schematically shown at 46 by an axial shaft48. The roll 40. is an idler roll, driven by the frictional contact withthe material fed thereto. To adjust the position the idler roll 40 andto bias it into proper position, members 49 are urged by a spring 50against the shaft 52, the adjustment of the same being by adjustingscrews 54. This adjustment means is built into the housing 36.

The housing 10 is provided with a feed opening 56 aligned with the biteof the feed rolls 38, 40 and the juncture of the opening 56 and the bore12 forms a cutting bar 58 against which the material to be severed isforced by the cutting portion 30 of the auger 14.

In FIGS. 4 and 5, the feed rolls 38, 40 are provided with circularknives60, 62 to subdivide the strip material laterally. The blades 60, 62overlap one another, so as to be self-sharpening, and are of such sizeas to avoid contact with the adjacent roll. If necessary or desirable,additional blades may be provided if desired to further subdivide thematerial.

FIG. 6 illustrates a modification of the here identified as auger 64 byreducing the size of the discharge portion 66 and contouring the bore 68of the housing 10 accordingly. Here the flight of the anger is continuedto convey the material to apparatus for ultimate use, such as anextruder or injection molding machine (not illustrated).

The speed of feed and the speed of the auger can be varied for theproduction of an ideal bulk density depending on use. For example therelationship of the speeds determines the size of the cut pieces. Anincrease in speed of the auger with the feed rolls remaining at a fixedspeed, produces smaller cut pieces and a lower bulk density than aslower auger speed. An increase in speed of the feed roll with the augerrotating at a fixed speed produces larger cut pieces than a slower feedroll speed. Large cut pieces result in a higher bulk density than smallcut pieces.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for cutting strips or rope-like lengths of material intodiscrete pieces comprising:

an elongated housing;

a bore in said housing;

rotating means in said bore closing one end of said bore;

said rotating means having a cutting portion and a conveying portion;

means for rotating said rotating means;

an opening into said bore for feeding material thereinto;

said opening being adjacent said cutting portion of said rotating means;and

a fixed cutting edge formed at the juncture of said bore and saidopening against which said cutting portion of said rotating means forcesmaterial to sever discrete lengths from the material fed thereto;

said conveying portion of said rotating means conveying 5. Apparatus asrecited in claim 4 in which said feeding and cutting means comprisesopposed knurled rolls having as.- sociated rotating, contacting circularknives.

6. Apparatus as recited in claim 5 wherein said knives overlap oneanother and each is faced from the opposite knurled 5 roll.

1. Apparatus for cutting strips or rope-like lengths of material intodiscrete pieces comprising: an elongated housing; a bore in saidhousing; rotating means in said bore closing one end of said bore; saidrotating means having a cutting portion and a conveying portion; meansfor rotating said rotating means; an opening into said bore for feedingmaterial thereinto; said opening being adjacent said cutting portion ofsaid rotating means; and a fixed cutting edge formed at the juncture ofsaid bore and said opening against which said cutting portion of saidrotating means forces material to sever discrete lengths from thematerial fed thereto; said coNveying portion of said rotating meansconveying said discrete lengths to the open end of said bore fordischarge therefrom.
 2. Apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein saidrotating means comprises an auger, the cutting portion of which has adifferent pitch from said conveying portion.
 3. Apparatus as recited inclaim 1, further comprising means for feeding strip material into saidopening and said bore.
 4. Apparatus as recited in claim 3, furthercomprising means for cutting strip material into rope-like strips forfeeding into said bore.
 5. Apparatus as recited in claim 4 in which saidfeeding and cutting means comprises opposed knurled rolls havingassociated rotating, contacting circular knives.
 6. Apparatus as recitedin claim 5 wherein said knives overlap one another and each is facedfrom the opposite knurled roll.